Will humans ever achieve Fusion Power?

Will humans ever achieve Fusion Power?

Poll: Will humans ever achieve Fusion Power?

Total Members Polled: 135

Yes, in <25 Years: 35%
Yes, in <50 Years: 30%
Yes, in <100 Years: 19%
Yes, in <500 Years: 4%
Yes, in >500Years: 1%
No, it's too hard and unachievable on earth.: 2%
No, it's possible but we lack the will.: 4%
No, we'll be busy fighting WW4 instead.: 4%
No, other.: 1%
Author
Discussion

Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Saturday 19th December 2015
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
Halb said:
rhinochopig said:
It may well get skipped as a technology. It's theoretically possible to extract energy from electromagnetic zero-point radiation without violating the laws of thermodynamics. Unlikely but you never know.
Rodney McKay!
Eh? Who be he?
A brilliant if erratic scientist. biggrin
In Stargate, the ZPM was a baseline sort of battery used to power cities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_technology_i...
Rodney tried to follow old plans to go one better and 'extract vacuum energy from the current universe, which could replace Zero Point Modules'. biggrin

Beati Dogu

8,865 posts

138 months

Sunday 20th December 2015
quotequote all
Terminator X said:
Don't / won't the oil companies just block it?

TX.
I think the greenies and their tame idiot politicians are far more likely to kick this into the long grass.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

254 months

Sunday 20th December 2015
quotequote all
I'm probably getting close after a couple of cans of baked beans...

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Sunday 20th December 2015
quotequote all
Beati Dogu said:
Terminator X said:
Don't / won't the oil companies just block it?

TX.
I think the greenies and their tame idiot politicians are far more likely to kick this into the long grass.
Yep this. Cos it's "nuclear' innit.

Also - people love to have a go at large 'expensive' experiments. Just look at the LHC.......the money spent on that could have easily been used to cure AIDs, stop world hunger and give the entire population of the world a home with laura ashely curtains and a flat screen TV.........or something.......nuts

Huff

3,141 posts

190 months

Friday 25th December 2015
quotequote all
We achieved fusion power most successfully in 1952 with the Teller-Ulam bomb design, and quite a few since.

The problem reduces 'merely' to one of controlled, sustained, harnessed fusion output.

Er. Um.
Might be a while yet. Bit more than a job for Arduino/Raspberry Pi

andy_s

19,397 posts

258 months

Friday 25th December 2015
quotequote all
I heard Lockheed-Martin skunkworks are also working on fusion at the moment.

ETA: http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/us/products/compac...

Edited by andy_s on Friday 25th December 10:57

xjay1337

15,966 posts

117 months

Friday 25th December 2015
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
I think it will be extinguished by the anti-nuclear anti-GM anti-science anti-progress anti-exciting educated-beyond-their-intelligence PC eco-brigade and the spineless politicians who trot along behind because they need votes.

So maybe the Russians or Chinese will do it.
This is what I feel.
Nuclear power the world forward!

The only issue being russian or chinese is that it may not be quite as safe....hah

Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Simpo Two

85,151 posts

264 months

Friday 25th December 2015
quotequote all
xjay1337 said:
The only issue being russian or chinese is that it may not be quite as safe....hah
Then again, if one of these things is going to go bang, I'd rather it went bang over there than over here!

loafer123

15,406 posts

214 months

hidetheelephants

23,780 posts

192 months

Saturday 13th February 2016
quotequote all
Toroids are a bloody waste of time.

Gilhooligan

2,211 posts

143 months

Monday 15th February 2016
quotequote all
Considering it takes the best part of 20 years to get a slightly revised version of a fission reactor that's already in use (Japanese Hitachi) for the UK. I can't see a commercial fusion reactor coming along any time soon.